In the attack, a disgruntled individual, Clay Allen Duke, fired four or five shots at six Bay District School board members, but missed them all, including the superintendent.

After the room was evacuated, Duke told the board members he was upset that his wife had been fired from her job as an English teacher in the Panama City district.

[3][citation needed] Clay Allen Duke (November 24, 1954 – December 14, 2010) was a 56-year-old unemployed Floridian who was apparently disgruntled over the firing of his wife by the school board.

He was described by the Associated Press as a "troubled, broke ex-con with bipolar disorder, an interest in anarchy, a wife whose unemployment benefits had run out and frustrations that reached their boiling point on a day circled on his calendar at home".

Although Duke was sentenced to five years in prison in 2000, he was released in January 2004, at which point he became a licensed massage therapist, according to state records.

[9] Duke posted to his Facebook page a week before the shootings: My testament: Some people (the government sponsored media) will say I was evil, a monster (V) ... no ...

[11] Duke removed the gun from his pocket and told everyone in the room to leave, aside from the male board members seated at the elevated podium.

On her way out, board member Ginger Littleton turned back into the room and attempted to disarm Duke by whacking his pistol with her purse.

[12] A week after the shootings, the purse that Littleton used to hit Duke sold on the online auction site eBay for $13,000, with the proceeds going to charity.